Springer, Jan - Be My Dream Tonight [The Desperadoes 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (24 page)

“Was thinking the same thing,” Kayne muttered as he grabbed Eve by her hand again, his fingers wrapping tightly around hers. His tension made her anxious, and Eve hoped to heaven that nothing had happened to Riley and Maddox, because if they got hurt, or worse, she’d never be able to forgive herself.

* * * *

Riley blew onto his cold, gloved hands and suddenly stiffened at the sound of something moving in the nearby bushes. He’d been squatting here, near the back entrance of the cave, for more than an hour, awaiting any unexpected guests. Instinctively, he knew something had happened to Mad or he would have been here by now.

The two guards that had been chattering at the back entrance had been taken care of earlier when Mad, Kayne, and that C.J. chick plus himself had taken them out and dragged their dead bodies away. Awhile ago, he’d heard some muffled sounds which sounded like thunder but were probably the explosives being triggered at the other side of this mountain.

Mad had set some explosives on this side of the mountain, too, before he’d left to join Kayne and C.J. in their hunt to look for Eve. Now, it looked as if some action might be ensuing as the sounds coming from inside of the cave grew louder. Grabbing his rifle, he took a bead on the general area in question, held his breath, and waited.

Usually he was one of those
shoot first and ask questions later
kinds of guys, but he knew in this case he could end up shooting one of his own. So he held off. Good thing he did wait, too, because he saw a torch being swung around in a wide circle just inside the cave entrance.

Relief splashed through him, and he quickly tossed in a couple of stones signaling the coast was clear. He watched as C.J. and then Kayne and finally Eve, who didn’t look so good, came out into the open. But she was alive and that’s all that mattered.

He quickly stepped forward to help get Eve’s knapsack off. She was perspiring heavily and panting like crazy. One eye looked almost swollen shut, and her face was battered with blue bruises.

He cursed and saw red. He was just about to rush past them and hunt for any and all of those sons of bitches when Kayne, obviously knowing his intensions, grabbed him by the arm and swung him back around.

“No time for that. Where’s Mad?”

“Never came back,” he answered curtly.

“He’s in trouble, then.” Kayne growled and let go of Riley. “Fuck!”

“Okay, the two of you macho guys, just chill,” C.J. said quickly as she deposited her full sack and picked up a couple of empty ones.

“Remember the plan,” she continued. “If someone is out of commission, we keep going for the gold.”

Kayne nodded. “C.J. and I will go back in. Riley, you stay here with Eve.”

“No, I can stay here by myself,” Eve retorted. Riley could see the flare of anger in her eyes. Oh, oh, it looked like there was going to be a fight. A hell of a time for her to pick her ground.

“Out of the question,” Kayne snapped and began to move toward the mouth of the cave.

“Damn it, Kayne! You are not my boss! I said I will stay here without assistance. I have a rifle, and I can shoot. Do you need me to shoot your ass to remind you?” Eve snapped.

Riley couldn’t help but grin. Looked like their hellfire cat was back, fully now, and she wasn’t going to be told what to do. Yeah, he really liked this side of Eve.

He noticed the way Kayne’s shoulders tensed at her words. He stopped midstride and turned slowly to face her. Okay, showdown city.

Oh yeah, Kayne looked pissed off. But so did Eve. Her hands were curled into tight fists, and if her eyes could shoot daggers, Kayne’s body would be laced with them. But then Kayne seemed to turn into one big, docile pussycat.

“You’re hurt. You can barely see or stand, for that matter. You managed to get caught once. I don’t want that to happen again.”

“Ouch. Thanks for your vote of confidence,” she snapped.

“We’re wasting time here,” C.J. complained and tossed an empty sack to Riley who caught it with ease. He knew what she was wanting to do even before she said it. “You two stick and argue. Big guy and I are going back in for more gold.” C.J. headed for the mouth of the cave.

“She called me big guy,” he said as he passed Eve with a wink. “You’ve been telling stories to her about me, haven’t you?”

Eve cast him an angry glare that just about fizzled his erection. He always got hot and aroused when Eve got mad. But this time seemed different. This time there was no twinkle of amusement in her eyes. This time was for real. He sure did pity Kayne at the moment, and she’d chosen a hell of a time to stand her ground. He picked up his pace and hurried after C.J., who’d already disappeared into the cave.

* * * *

Kayne glared at her like he was some caveman who was convinced he would get his way this time. Well, he had one nasty surprise coming to him, didn’t he?

“Well, I guess that’s settled. I’m staying here to make sure you’re okay,” he muttered.

“No, you’re going to look for
Mad.
As I said earlier, I can handle standing guard on my own, Kayne.”

Another round of anger flared in his eyes. “In case you haven’t looked at yourself in the mirror, Eve, you look like shit. You’re no good to us if you fall over and allow Wolfe and his gang to pick us off like flies.”

“I said I’m fine.”

He gave her an
I don’t believe you
look.

Okay so she wasn’t in the best shape. But she needed to make up for the trouble she’d caused in getting caught and alerting Wolfe and his gang.

“Oh, stop acting like an overprotective father. I’ll have none of this from here on out. Is that clear? I am my own woman. I will make decisions in my best interest, and right now my best interest is for you to go and look for Mad while I make sure no one hijacks C.J. and Riley. For all we know they could be going in the other way and are waiting in there for them.”

To her surprise, Kayne’s features softened. She flinched as he reached up and caressed her swollen eye with his callused thumb. “Eve, baby, you’re the mother of my child. And for all I know I’ve made you pregnant again. We didn’t have condoms down by the river and—”

Eve sighed at the soft touch of his hand. God, the man sure knew how to melt her knees and distract her from the problem on hand, didn’t he? She sighed and allowed herself to just feel the tenderness in her touch. But just for a moment and then she brushed his hand away.

“Stop it, Kayne. Now is not the time to go all sentimental on me.”

He tossed her a crooked grin that had her heart racing. Damn him, he was so cute and sexy even when so much danger lurked around them.

“Go, find
Mad.
I’m the best shot standing here between us, and you know it. I’ll pick them off when they show up. If you hear gunshots, then feel free to come to my rescue. I promise I can handle this.”

And truly she knew she could. With the fresh air and all this excitement about possibly getting to take out Wolfe, she was flying high on pure adrenaline.

“We need Mad back with us to make us whole,” she whispered.

She heard him sigh, and she knew she’d won.

“Don’t move from this spot. The place is wired with explosives for about a twenty foot perimeter. One wrong move and it’s over. Understand?”

“I’ll stay right here. Now get your ass moving.”

He didn’t move. Just stared at her. She saw the conflicting emotions. Should he stay and fight her or give in and go? Frustration raced through her as she waited for him to make up his mind.

And then he was lowering his head. When his sweet, warm mouth touched hers, she moaned as his tenderness ripped through her whole body. He sipped at her lips, leisurely, erotically, lovingly, and for a split second she wasn’t here at all. She was somewhere safe and beautiful.

Then it was dashed as he pulled away from her. “You better be here when I get back,” he whispered, his eyes literally flashing with lust and warning.

She could barely hear him from the blood pounding through her ears. But she did manage a nod.

And then he was gone.

* * * *

An urgency unlike anything Kayne had ever experienced before slammed through him as he swiftly moved between the towering pine trees. Dawn was just breaking, and golden sunshine splashed against the treetops above him. Had it been any other time he would have stopped to admire the breathtaking beauty of the glimpses of crisp blue sky, golden rays of sunshine, and the nice way the green treetops glittered with the dew that had fallen overnight. But now everything seemed surreal. He was going against every fiber of his being in leaving Eve back there.

Alone. Injured. And in all likelihood Wolfe and his cronies moving in on her. But he also knew he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself, and Eve wouldn’t be able to forgive herself, if they didn’t find Maddox, preferably alive, but if he was dead…Kayne cursed himself for daring to allow that thought to enter his head. Maddox was family. Okay, so what they all shared wasn’t traditional, but hell, nothing was traditional post-Catastrophe days anyway.

Movement up ahead had him crouching for cover. Slipping behind a tree, he propped his rifle against the trunk and withdrew his pistol. It took only a minute before he spotted the shadowy figure stumble past him.

“You looking to get your head blown off?” he said as casually as possible, despite a whole array of emotions sweeping through him at lightning speed at the sight of Maddox.

Mad stopped in his tracks, cursed, and then chuckled.

“Fuck, am I glad to see you, man,” Maddox said as Kayne moved in beside him, noticing right off that Mad had seen better days. Blood oozed from quite the goose egg near his right temple, and his right arm was in a sling that he’d improvised from his shirt.

“I can tell by your face you found Eve. She all right?”

“Wolfe beat her, but she’s holding her own,” Kayne supplied. “She’s one tough cookie.”

“Tougher than we all thought, that’s for sure,” Maddox agreed. Pride etched his voice.

“You all right?” Kayne asked him, although he knew the answer to that. The guy was a bit banged up, but nothing a little bit of relaxation wouldn’t fix.

A thunderous explosion snapped through the air from about a quarter mile behind them, and Kayne instinctively crouched for cover.

Maddox stood over him chuckling. “A little change in plans. I took the chance that you guys would stay off the trail that C.J. said Wolfe and his gang members used as we’d agreed we wouldn’t use it, so when I needed to rest, I took a bit of a detour and left them a little surprise.” Another explosion followed. This time closer.

Holy shit!

Mad’s grin widened. “Let me rephrase that to two little surprises.”

“Any more surprises I should be aware of?” Kayne asked as they both started moving again.

“Let’s hope not.”

Kayne relaxed, if only a little as he kept checking the perimeter. “Your shoulder. Can it be fixed? Is it broken? Or separated again?”

“Separated. Hurts like hell. I’ll get Riley to pop it back in when we get back. He’s done it once before.”

 
Kayne nodded. Yeah, toward the beginning when they first formed their gang. He remembered Mad falling off a horse when he’d first started to ride one.

“Any sign of Wolfe back there?” Kayne asked. “Was he one of the ones that got blown up?”

“Don’t know. I barely got clear of the entrance when the explosives were triggered. That’s how I got hurt. For all we know Wolfe is still lurking around.”

A shiver of unease zipped through Kayne.

“Let’s hurry up and get back to Eve. I’ve got a bad feeling about leaving her there all alone.”

“Better not let her hear you say that. I have a feeling our little Eve has grown up since she’s been gone. She isn’t going to be taking any more shit from us.”

Kayne nodded. Maddox was definitely right, especially since Kayne himself had just gotten his head bit off by her because he’d wanted to hang around and protect her. Yep, their Eve had definitely grown from a frightened woman to a self-assured chick, who was as stubborn as the rest of the Durango Gang. It looked like if they got out of this mess alive, it was going to be one hell of a ride living in Trader Jack’s cabin. Kayne grinned. A hell of a ride he was really looking forward to.

* * * *

“That’s all we can take this go-around,” C.J. said as she hoisted her packsack onto her back and started toward the corridor that would lead them out the back way.

“Hang on, cutie. I can carry a few more. I’m strong,” Riley murmured as he hoisted a couple more gold bars into his sack.

“Don’t call me cutie, asshole. Now come on. I said it’s time to go.”

Riley couldn’t help but bristle at her angry tone. Sexy chick or not, he did not like to be called an asshole. He was about to dress her down with a few heavy curse words when he reined in his anger. He could tell she’d gone through hell with Wolfe. While outlining her strategy of getting in and out of the cave and how to carry out this operation, he’d noticed the pink scars lacing her face, neck, and hands. Wolfe had done that to her. Obviously by her angry attitude he’d done more than physically abuse her.